Admin

Hosted By

Powered By

The IBM Institute for Business Value has followed up their first Business Analytics and Optimization study from April 2009 with a new survey of 400 business leaders. By comparing how industry leaders are applying analytics in ways that industry laggards are not, this new survey provides insight into the actions that businesses can take to achieve "breakaway success."

The difference between those at the top and bottom of their industries are stark. A press release on the findings issued today highlights some of the ways top-performing organizations are pulling away from the rest of their industry (emphasis mine):

Top-performing companies were 15 times more likely to apply analytics to strategic decisions than their underperforming peers.

Top performers were 22 times more prepared to challenge the status quo in their organizations, rethink current strategies and business processes, and aggressively apply and act on new insights derived from analytics.

Top performers were six times more likely to entrust a broader base of employees with greater authority to make decisions and act on insights.

The report also highlights examples of ways organizations can put analytics and related practices into effect today. (Note - these are all phrased as "could improve..." statements, but there are actual IBM clients behind each of these examples.

A mobile telecommunications operator, for example, might devise entirely new types of calling plans based on social network analysis of actual usage patterns to determine which customers are likely to have the most influence on others.

A hospital could improve the survival rate of premature babies by integrating and analyzing a constant stream of biomedical data, such as heartbeat and respiration rates, along with environmental data gathered from advanced sensors and more traditional monitoring devices. By collecting detailed realtime physiological data, it can detect patterns that signal emerging infections up to 24 hours in advance.

A consumer goods company could boost its brand and sales by reducing its carbon footprint. By reconfiguring distribution centers and incorporating realtime, predictive information about traffic patterns on major arteries, it could analyze its shipping options to select routes and carriers with the lowest carbon emissions – while still meeting inventory and customer service targets.

I'd strongly encourage you to download the report and see all the additional findings and recommendations brought to light by those leading their industries. Links: